Manchester United snatched a draw against West Ham, 1-1 at Old Trafford.
As Arsenal, and Chelsea, had fallen earlier in the week – the Gunners earlier that night – to unfavoured opposition, Manchester United were hoping to assert themselves in their grand old ground. West Ham, undefeated in their last six matches, arrived at the Theatre of Dreams dreaming of their own place in the FA Cup semi-finals. This was to be a hotly contested affair, with controversial incidents littering both sides’ performances. But, ultimately, the Hammers did more than enough to earn a replay at Upton Park, and Manchester United will not be looking forward to it.
Slaven Bilic, having lined up with a three-at-the-back formation twice in the last three matches, played an equally intriguing, but different, formation. Starting Michail Antonio as a standard full back, with Kouyate and Noble in defensive midfield, the base of the team already had a fluidity to it; Antonio would bomb on with reckless abandon, and Kouyate, roving as he was to cover Marouane Fellaini, often took up a third centre back position. Then, an attack of Payet, Lanzini, Emenike and Carroll paired speed and guile with power and directness. Carroll and Emenike, alas, never really clicked, with the Nigerian particularly ineffective.
Louis van Gaal was forced once again to include a number of youngsters and out-of-position players in his starting XI. Rashford started his sixth straight match, and Lingard and Martial flanked him, with Fellaini surging from midfield to provide an aerial threat. Michael Carrick was returned to the starting line up, to provide some calmness and duty on the ball, and Chris Smalling partnered Daley Blind in defence (although the Dutchman was seen swapping positions with Marcus Rojo a number of times).
The home side hogged the ball, but were only rarely able to make convincing forays into dangerous areas. Manchester United didn’t lodge a shot on target until the second half and, as much as Herrera and Carrick fiddled, and Martial and Lingard dribbled, West Ham’s defence were only occasionally on edge. But, in the second half, a series of ding-dong moments; first Payet went down in a heap in the opposition box, seemingly felled with only de Gea to beat. Replays confirmed this as a highly embellished tumble, a dive, frankly, and referee Martin Atkinson agreed, waving play on as he did. But no booking was awarded, which would have been Payet’s second yellow card. Then, a few minutes later, Payet was fouled again, by Blind, around 30 yards out from de Gea’s goal. Payet’s free kick had an irresistible swerve to it, a thrumming energy you could almost hear emanating from even before he kicked it. 1-0, in some style, and the player responsible might have been in the baths had Atkinson revealed the cheese slice.
Martial’s equaliser, coming seven minutes from time, also veered into dodgy territory. Ander Herrera’s cross looped over Darren Randolph in goal and, as he scrambled over to his back post, Bastian Schweinsteiger backsided Randolph off his feet and into his own net. Martial converted at the far post, and a replay was earned.
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